Do you have a 6-to-12-year-old in your family, and do you worry about how much time he or she spends indoors, glued to screens? Or, perhaps… are YOU a kid who's interested in making, inventing, and hacking stuff and transforming your world? Either way, you’ve come to the right place.

UNBORED started as a bestselling hardcover book, and over time has expanded into a whole collection of books and activity kits designed to engage the imagination and encourage hands-on fun. The collection includes:

The UNBORED team — coauthors Josh Glenn and Elizabeth Foy Larsen, and designer Tony Leone — are friends who got tired of lamenting the fact that we couldn’t find any activity books for families who enjoy getting unbored both indoors and outdoors, online and offline. So we decided to make one.

Our inspiration? Do-it-yourself guides from the 1970s like The Whole Earth Catalog, maker/builder websites like Instructables and Make, parenting blogs, old scouting manuals, and even Neal Stephenson's sci-fi novel The Diamond Age.

In creating our first book we drew on our own memories of childhood — the made-up games we played, the rhymes we used to figure out who was “It,” the handicrafts we enjoyed, you name it. We also drew on our experiences as parents of kids growing up in the 21st century… with the Internet and smartphones and apps. And we roped in a couple dozen scientist, activist, and maker friends to help out, too. Perhaps most importantly, we recruited three very talented artists — Mister Reusch, Heather Kasunick, and Chris Piascik — to contribute hundreds of illustrations.

UNBORED 2012Hardcover, 352 pages

We figured that UNBORED would be our only book, so in its 352 full-color pages, you’ll find everything from our own kids' favorite apps, DIY building/making projects, and crafts to science experiments, and instructions on building everything from a remote-controlled water blaster to a cigar-box guitar.

We figured that UNBORED would be our only book, so in its 352 full-color pages, you’ll find everything from our own kids' favorite apps, DIY building/making projects, and crafts to science experiments, and instructions on building everything from a remote-controlled water blaster to a cigar-box guitar.

When Bloomsbury — publisher of the Harry Potter books — brought it out it in the fall of 2012, UNBORED made quite a splash. It was a bestseller in independent bookstores nationwide, it reached #1 on Amazon’s Family Activities and Parenting book lists, and it received lots of glowing praise.

“It’s a book! It’s a guide!It’s a way of life!”

"If you can’t find an exciting activity to do in this book, there might be something wrong with you.”

“Loaded with projects, games, experiments, and just plain fun.”

UNBORED even made it onto New York Magazine’s famous Approval Matrix — in the coveted HIGHBROW/BRILLIANT quadrant.

Our second book received glowing reviews, too. (For example, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune described it as “chock-full of smart, totally not-lame ideas to amuse and give the brain a workout.”) So our team set to work on a third book…

Our third book was also well-received. We think it’s our best book yet! But a whole new phase of the UNBORED project was just beginning…

UNBORED ACTIVITY KITS2015

In the summer of 2015, the brainy kids’ toy and game company MindWare produced not one but two UNBORED activity kits!

The UnboredDisguises kit includes everything you’ll need in order to go undercover. Inside, you’ll find two sets of teeth, two beards, five mustaches, four pairs of glasses, eyebrows and sideburns, an eyepatch and a monocle, fancy gloves, a bandana, and a roll of gauze for fake injuries.

The 16-page Field Guide to Going Incognito suggests a few of the many personae (Urban Pirate, Mountain Jack, Fifties Hepcat, British Boffin, Nerd Zombie) that you might create using these items; it also offers tips on making your own scars and wounds, disguising your voice and style, and changing the way you walk.

The second kit, UnboredTreasure Hunt includes everything you’ll need to create treasure hunts that take place within a single room, throughout the house, or across an entire neighborhood. Inside, you’ll find a paintable wooden treasure chest, a paint set and brush, treasure chest stickers, a compass and penlight, a mapmaker pad, printed and blank clue cards and envelopes, and prize certificates.

The 12-page Field Guide to Hiding & Seeking Prizes explains how to set up various sorts of cooperative and competitive treasure hunts, whether indoors or outdoors — not to mention hacks that involve smartphones, timed hunts, rhymed clues, and more.

Our first kits were a hit in toy stores across America, so MindWare produced two more…

The UNBORED Carnival kit encourages kids to step right up and get started planning an event full of fun and friendly competition! All of the details you need to host a memorable carnival are included, from tickets and a megaphone to decorations and equipment for midway games. Enjoy a little good old-fashioned carnival fun and maybe even raise some money for charity.

The 12-page Field Guide to Putting on a Carnival offers tips on everything from collecting tickets to organizing a ring toss game and a squirt-gun shooting gallery, to cooking sweet and savory popcorn for carnival-goers.

The UNBORED Time Capsule includes everything you’ll need, from stickers and labels to envelopes and boxes to a nifty date stamp, to capture important details that you’d like people in the future (including your future self) to know about. Seal and store your time capsule… and then plan to be amazed years from now by what you’ll rediscover.

The 12-page Field Guide to Making History suggests how to record your current interests and activities, details about your friends and family, and stories about your school and town.